Worst Obscure game you've ever played?

[Booster]

We have plenty of ****ty games, but most of them aren't well known, but people only talk about the mainstream ones like Mindjack, Sonic 06 and I've even heard some people say Mega Man Legends (Me included), so let's talk about ****ty OBSCURE games for a change, no mainstream games aloud here.

The worst obscure game I've ever played is Sonic Labyrinth on Sega GameGear (On Sonic Gems Collection for Gamecube). This is a Sonic game not many people remember and to be honest it makes Sonic 06 look like Sonic 3 and Knuckles, it's horrible. It tries to be a 3D game and it's a HUGE mess, the controls are bad, the graphics are bad and the sound is VERY poor and here is the gameplay quoted from Wikipedia:

Players control Sonic by maneuvering him around a pinball-like arena, using his ability to roll into a ball to defeat Badniks and pick up keys in order to exit through the GOAL door to clear each stage. The only move Sonic can use in the game is the Spin Dash, as Dr. Eggman has secretly replaced his famous red shoes with another pair: the Slow-Down Boots, which have taken away Sonic's abilities to run fast and jump. They cannot be removed at all without the use of Chaos Emerald energy. Although Sonic retains his walking and learn the Spin Dash ability, there is a time limit in each stage, so one must move quickly to complete stages before the timer runs out.

Okay, TIME OUT, what do people enjoy doing the most in Sonic the Hedgehog games? Running REALLY fast, so we have a Sonic game where we can't run fast at all, and when I say can't, I literally mean you can't, even Sonic 06 moves faster on the PS3, not to mention as I mentioned earlier the controls are bad, now you atleast have the spin dash...which unfortunately is the worst Spin Dash ever in a Sonic game, the hit detection is really poor with it, I couldn't get past the first level, whereas with Sonic 06 I atleast got past the first level.

Not only is this the worst obscure game I've ever played, but it is in my top 5 worst games ever made, I had more fun with Tiger Electronics Inspector Gadget as a kid.

So what's your worst obscure game you've ever played (Not that it can top Sonic Labyrinth)

 

[Sen. Sawft]

One of the worst games I've ever played was "Always Sometimes Monsters".

It's a game that was supposed to be like a "Walking Dead by TellTale Games" kind of game, but they forgot the interesting dialogue, characters, and art style.

The game tries to be a sad and hopeless love story. You pick your character and the character you want to be in love with from the start. As soon as the flashback ends, you're alone w/o her/him as your lover. The game focuses on you trying to re-win her heart by going to his/her wedding in an attempt to woo her back.

Not kidding.

The game tries to be too real with some of the situations that just end up making the game seem repetitive and boring. Also, if you advertise your game as a "branching storyline" game, how about you actually make branching storylines instead of having multiple paths that ultimately end in the same event.

I made the mistake of purchasing this game on the Steam Summer Sale 2014, expecting a compelling storyline with good characters. I got a poorly-drawn, boring, stale, and lifeless love story.

Edit: I have never met anyone who has owned or played this game, so I think this counts.

 

[Thor]

Project M

 

[Booster]

One of the worst games I've ever played was "Always Sometimes Monsters".

It's a game that was supposed to be like a "Walking Dead by TellTale Games" kind of game, but they forgot the interesting dialogue, characters, and art style.

The game tries to be a sad and hopeless love story. You pick your character and the character you want to be in love with from the start. As soon as the flashback ends, you're alone w/o her/him as your lover. The game focuses on you trying to re-win her heart by going to his/her wedding in an attempt to woo her back.

Not kidding.

The game tries to be too real with some of the situations that just end up making the game seem repetitive and boring. Also, if you advertise your game as a "branching storyline" game, how about you actually make branching storylines instead of having multiple paths that ultimately end in the same event.

I made the mistake of purchasing this game on the Steam Summer Sale 2014, expecting a compelling storyline with good characters. I got a poorly-drawn, boring, stale, and lifeless love story.

Edit: I have never met anyone who has owned or played this game, so I think this counts.

It would count, I only just now heard of it. It sounds terrible, but in a different sense then Sonic Labyrinth, the two genres are completely different, Sonic Labyrinth is suppose to be a Puzzle Platformer and your game is suppose to be a story/fmv game

 

[Hank Hill]

I would say Arc the Lad: End of Darkness; just a horrible way to end an otherwise good, but obscure series. Failed innovations in gameplay and lack of interesting characters just makes it simply mediocre.

 

[Booster]

I would say Arc the Lad: End of Darkness; just a horrible way to end an otherwise good, but obscure series. Failed innovations in gameplay and lack of interesting characters just makes it simply mediocre.

Not to mention after killing the first boss, the frame rate drops to 5 (I think) frames per second. Games like this kill videogame series

 

[Sari]

Not sure if this counts, but I'd have to say Half Life: Before, a free mod for the original Half Life that somehow got greenlit by Steam and can be downloaded on the Steam store page. The game has tons of bad grammar, has a story straight out of a terrible fan fiction, can be beaten in 10 minutes, and has quite possibly the worst final boss I have ever seen in a game.

When it comes to retail games, I'd have to say Woodle Tree Adventures: a 3D platformer with bland music, boring levels, laughable enemies, and a terrible camera (which made me really sad because I actually really wanted to like it).

 

[finalark]

A friend of mine either had this or rented it when we were kids. I'm pretty sure it was rent, because I remember the black cartridge and DnD-inspired box art is what got me to get him to buy/rent it. Either way, I recall we didn't get very far due to the game have absolutely hideous graphics, even for the time, and horribly clunky controls with a very confusing and overly complex battle system. I'm not sure if it was because I was young and too dumb to get it, but one quick google search reveals that the game had negative to average reviews at best.

Actually, while I'm here I want to talk about this game too:

This is the worst Sonic game I have ever played. At least Sonic '06 is entertaining in a "so-bad-it's-good" sort of way. This game is worse than bad, it's boring. Sonic Shuffle was SEGA's answer to the success to Mario Party. And to add insult to injury it was made by Hudson Soft, makers of some of the best party games around like the previously mentioned Mario Party and Bomberman. There's that makes this game awful. They game attempts to cram so damn much into it, there's battles, mini games, "accidents," massive sprawling boards with so much on them they provide you with not fun, but sensory overload and so many more mechanics that just do not work together in any sort of cohesive way.

The worst part? This game goes on forever. You're objective is the collect a certain amount of precious stones, but collecting these stones could take anywhere from an hour to three and there's no way of knowing how long this game will last. Not to mention that mini games have to be triggered by landing on spacing, and even that doesn't guarantee that the repetition of exploring the jumbled board will end. Only sometimes do you actually get a mini game, sometimes you get annoying little VN-like vignettes that drag on and add nothing to the game. Oh yeah, and on top of that most of the mini games are just a pain in the ass.

 

[Claire Diviner]

 

[Booster]

A friend of mine either had this or rented it when we were kids. I'm pretty sure it was rent, because I remember the black cartridge and DnD-inspired box art is what got me to get him to buy/rent it. Either way, I recall we didn't get very far due to the game have absolutely hideous graphics, even for the time, and horribly clunky controls with a very confusing and overly complex battle system. I'm not sure if it was because I was young and too dumb to get it, but one quick google search reveals that the game had negative to average reviews at best.

Actually, while I'm here I want to talk about this game too:

This is the worst Sonic game I have ever played. At least Sonic '06 is entertaining in a "so-bad-it's-good" sort of way. This game is worse than bad, it's boring. Sonic Shuffle was SEGA's answer to the success to Mario Party. And to add insult to injury it was made by Hudson Soft, makers of some of the best party games around like the previously mentioned Mario Party and Bomberman. There's that makes this game awful. They game attempts to cram so damn much into it, there's battles, mini games, "accidents," massive sprawling boards with so much on them they provide you with not fun, but sensory overload and so many more mechanics that just do not work together in any sort of cohesive way.

The worst part? This game goes on forever. You're objective is the collect a certain amount of precious stones, but collecting these stones could take anywhere from an hour to three and there's no way of knowing how long this game will last. Not to mention that mini games have to be triggered by landing on spacing, and even that doesn't guarantee that the repetition of exploring the jumbled board will end. Only sometimes do you actually get a mini game, sometimes you get annoying little VN-like vignettes that drag on and add nothing to the game. Oh yeah, and on top of that most of the mini games are just a pain in the ***.

Aidyn's graphics can't be worse then Final Fantasy 7's graphics *looks it up* they're not...but they're still horrific, unappealing, ugly, creepy, ****ed up, made by THQ (No surprise as to why it sucked), but to be fair some of the graphics rival Final Fantasy 7's in how ****ty they look. It looks like it could've been a good game, but with an Incompetent developer/THQ incharge of it, of course it was going to be a disaster. I learned early on as a kid not to pick up anything with that accursed logo on it, they made some of the worst games ever...several of the employees came from LJN and Acclaim/Akklaim, as in the LJN that James Rolfe rips apart.

 

[Claire Diviner]

Aidyn's graphics can't be worse then Final Fantasy 7's graphics *looks it up* they're not...but they're still horrific, unappealing, ugly, creepy, ****ed up, made by THQ (No surprise as to why it sucked), but to be fair some of the graphics rival Final Fantasy 7's in how ****ty they look. It looks like it could've been a good game, but with an Incompetent developer/THQ incharge of it, of course it was going to be a disaster. I learned early on as a kid not to pick up anything with that accursed logo on it, they made some of the worst games ever...several of the employees came from LJN and Acclaim/Akklaim, as in the LJN that James Rolfe rips apart.

To be fair, and this is me playing devil's advocate, THQ did publish "WCW vs nWo: World Tour", "WCW/nWo Revenge" and "WWF Wrestlemania 2000" on the N64, and those were fantastic games. Some can argue that those games weren't developed by THQ themselves, but the same can be said for Aidyn Chronicles (H2O Interactive).

 

[Booster]

To be fair, and this is me playing devil's advocate, THQ did publish "WCW vs nWo: World Tour", "WCW/nWo Revenge" and "WWF Wrestlemania 2000" on the N64, and those were fantastic games. Some can argue that those games weren't developed by THQ themselves, but the same can be said for Aidyn Chronicles (H2O Interactive).

Okay then, well THQ as a developer (Which they were) was one of the worst developers of our time. The only good games with their name weren't developed by them and as I said most of their employees consisted of:

LJN Employees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A5B8fXp0aU

Akklaim/Acclaim Employees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klUaSplIquI

Those weren't the only games those two companies made inhouse either, they made TONS more garbage including games that have gone down on several worst games lists, the fact someone thought it was a good idea to make an entire company with Ex-Laughin' Jokin' Numbnuts and Akklaim/Acclaim employees shows someone was really stupid. It took long enough, but THQ/My Nightmare finally closed last year, avenging several people with childhoods plagued by THQ's heartless, soulless software.

 

[finalark]

Aidyn's graphics can't be worse then Final Fantasy 7's graphics *looks it up* they're not...but they're still horrific, unappealing, ugly, creepy, ****ed up, made by THQ (No surprise as to why it sucked), but to be fair some of the graphics rival Final Fantasy 7's in how ****ty they look. It looks like it could've been a good game, but with an Incompetent developer/THQ incharge of it, of course it was going to be a disaster. I learned early on as a kid not to pick up anything with that accursed logo on it, they made some of the worst games ever...several of the employees came from LJN and Acclaim/Akklaim, as in the LJN that James Rolfe rips apart.

I don't really think FF7's graphics are bad. Dated and goofy? Oh yeah, most certainly. But they aren't bad. At least they aren't horribly soulless monstrosities that crawled right out of the uncanny valley like most of the models in Aidyn Chronicles.

Anyway, I agree that most games in THQ's library were complete garbage. Then again, they did publish the Spongebob Squarepants Move game, which was actually a surprisingly high quality platformer. That's not even nostalgia talking, the first time I ever touched the game was about a year ago.

 

[Claire Diviner]

Okay then, well THQ as a developer (Which they were) was one of the worst developers of our time. The only good games with their name weren't developed by them and as I said most of their employees consisted of:

LJN Employees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A5B8fXp0aU

Akklaim/Acclaim Employees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klUaSplIquI

Those weren't the only games those two companies made inhouse either, they made TONS more garbage including games that have gone down on several worst games lists, the fact someone thought it was a good idea to make an entire company with Ex-Laughin' Jokin' Numbnuts and Akklaim/Acclaim employees shows someone was really stupid. It took long enough, but THQ/My Nightmare finally closed last year, avenging several people with childhoods plagued by THQ's heartless, soulless software.

I can't argue with that. THQ as a developer did suck, and I know very well of LJN, given I was burned as a child by their crap; "Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six" still hurts more than twenty years later, and seeing the AVGN's Spider-Man games review only furthers the pain via triggers.

 

[Booster]

I don't really think FF7's graphics are bad. Dated and goofy? Oh yeah, most certainly. But they aren't bad. At least they aren't horribly soulless monstrosities that crawled right out of the uncanny valley like most of the models in Aidyn Chronicles.

Anyway, I agree that most games in THQ's library were complete garbage. Then again, they did publish the Spongebob Squarepants Move game, which was actually a surprisingly high quality platformer. That's not even nostalgia talking, the first time I ever touched the game was about a year ago.

Good point, they atleast tried (I think?) with Final Fantasy 7's graphics, the graphics in Aidyn Chronicles were just horrific, I looked at most of the screenshots and if it wasn't a human I couldn't tell what it was.

I can't argue with that. THQ as a developer did suck, and I know very well of LJN, given I was burned as a child by their crap; "Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six" still hurts more than twenty years later, and seeing the AVGN's Spider-Man games review only furthers the pain via triggers.

Atleast the employees of THQ are too bankrupt to form their own nightmarish company, they really didn't deserve the money (if any) they were making, whereas Indie Companies can make a MUCH better game with a team as low as 4 people, THQ had maybe 100 or more employees and they just couldn't make a decent game by themselves aside from the Spongebob Movie game.

 

[Sahfarry]

Not sure if this counts as obscure, exactly, but "The Letter". It contains zero gameplay or challenge and the whole time you are objects around a dark map with dead trees that come together as a poor attempt to be a scary game. To make a comparison, the gameplay is akin to Slender, but it does not have the one thing in that game that provides any kind of challenge, Slenderman. The story was virtually non-existent. Your father may have been murdered, but whatever because [SPOILERS] it was all a dream. Once you play through the game once, it takes 3 minutes to beat again as none of the objects are placed differently. This game is one of the many that somehow made it onto the eShop without achieving any form of quality whatsoever.

 

[Booster]

Not sure if this counts as obscure, exactly, but "The Letter". It contains zero gameplay or challenge and the whole time you are objects around a dark map with dead trees that come together as a poor attempt to be a scary game. To make a comparison, the gameplay is akin to Slender, but it does not have the one thing in that game that provides any kind of challenge, Slenderman. The story was virtually non-existent. Your father may have been murdered, but whatever because [SPOILERS] it was all a dream. Once you play through the game once, it takes 3 minutes to beat again as none of the objects are placed differently. This game is one of the many that somehow made it onto the eShop without achieving any form of quality whatsoever.

You'd think with Wiiware dead that Wiiware quality **** would've died with it. But nope, make way for IQ Test and The Letter.

 

[Sahfarry]

You'd think with Wiiware dead that Wiiware quality **** would've died with it. But nope, make way for IQ Test and The Letter.

Yeah. And that's just to name a few, jeez. I don't know why Nintendo lets this happen, but eh. I bought The Letter when it was half off as a joke, so I ain't too mad.

 

[finalark]

Good point, they atleast tried (I think?) with Final Fantasy 7's graphics

Actually, they tried pretty damn hard. I know it's hard to conceive today, but back in '97 FF7's graphics was actually one of its selling points.

 

[Claire Diviner]

Let's not forget that FFVII came somewhat early in the console's life. After VII, they started to get the hang of polygon molding, as was apparent in games, like Bushido Blade, Parasite Eve, and Brave Fencer Musashi. When FFVIII finally came two years after VII, the jump in visuals as well as Square's experience was very noticeable.

 

[Twewy]

Anyway, I agree that most games in THQ's library were complete garbage. Then again, they did publish the Spongebob Squarepants Move game, which was actually a surprisingly high quality platformer.

It will always dumbfound me how Heavy Iron made two godly Spongebob platformers but screwed up almost everything else they made.

 

[Booster]

Actually, they tried pretty damn hard. I know it's hard to conceive today, but back in '97 FF7's graphics was actually one of its selling points.

Yikes...honestly most SNES games looked better then FF7, look at Donkey Kong Country for example, you can actually tell what the models are suppose to be without a heavy amount of dialogue.

 

[finalark]

Yikes...honestly most SNES games looked better then FF7, look at Donkey Kong Country for example, you can actually tell what the models are suppose to be without a heavy amount of dialogue.

I will actually agree that a lot of SNES games do actually look better. That being said, you have to remember that this is back when 3D was a brand new thing. Not to mention those FMVs were some of the most incredible graphics that anyone had ever seen at that point in time.

 

[Pachinkosam]

Anybody know incredible crisis?

 

[Booster]

I will actually agree that a lot of SNES games do actually look better. That being said, you have to remember that this is back when 3D was a brand new thing. Not to mention those FMVs were some of the most incredible graphics that anyone had ever seen at that point in time.

Yeah but it doesn't change the fact the graphics haven't aged well and the lack of analog control doesn't help. IMO FF7 is overrated and not fun, I'll stick to Final Fantasy 9, 4 and 6

 

[finalark]

Yeah but it doesn't change the fact the graphics haven't aged well and the lack of analog control doesn't help. IMO FF7 is overrated and not fun, I'll stick to Final Fantasy 9, 4 and 6

I actually don't think that FF7 that overrated these days, since you don't really see people blowing gaskets over it any more. IMO it's actually a really damn good game, even if the graphics have aged like crap.

 

[TimeSmash]

Future Tactics: The Uprising isn't necessarily bad, but it's far from good. You're in this stealth-RPG-shooter cross over which just doesn't work that well since the aliens you're fighting have telepathy and can easily communicate to everyone else once they spot you. Also having to line two crosshairs up 90 percent of the time gets old fast. The fact that you can mess up the terrain is pretty cool, but often doesn't serve that much to your advantage. And the game was really short. It came out in 2004, which is around the time when games like Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Beyond Good and Evil were released, and so it feels unreasonably clunky compared to other titles released in the year. It might have fared better on the stellar N64

 

[finalark]

It might have fared better on the stellar N64

At least then it would simply have not aged well. Of course, it would also add to the argument that most games from that era haven't aged well.

One thing I like about this thread is that it shatters the "if it's obscure it must be good" misconception.

 

[Booster]

I actually don't think that FF7 that overrated these days, since you don't really see people blowing gaskets over it any more. IMO it's actually a really damn good game, even if the graphics have aged like crap.

I don't need good graphics to play a game, but if a game looks so unappealing it will turn people away (Unless you're an expert PC Modder who can mod FF7 to look good with 15 years of mods)

 

[SomewhatMystia]

Future Tactics: The Uprising isn't necessarily bad, but it's far from good. You're in this stealth-RPG-shooter cross over which just doesn't work that well since the aliens you're fighting have telepathy and can easily communicate to everyone else once they spot you. Also having to line two crosshairs up 90 percent of the time gets old fast. The fact that you can mess up the terrain is pretty cool, but often doesn't serve that much to your advantage. And the game was really short. It came out in 2004, which is around the time when games like Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Beyond Good and Evil were released, and so it feels unreasonably clunky compared to other titles released in the year. It might have fared better on the stellar N64

I recall renting that game waybackwhen and it was... interesting, if I remember correctly. Never got too terribly far into it, though.

 

[TimeSmash]

I recall renting that game waybackwhen and it was... interesting, if I remember correctly. Never got too terribly far into it, though.

It is interesting, but it just stales in like a weird way. It had a decent story, and I might play it again since I never resell anything really, but it could've been executed much better

 

[Sykkamorre]

Malice. Just bad. You die? Just go pick up your soul from hell, because you are a god. Uhhhhhhhhhsobad.

 

[Knight Dude]

Super Bubble Pop. It's basically a slower, more boring version of Bust-A-Move. Not to mention it doesn't look good either. To me anyway.

 

[finalark]

Oh, how about this disaster of a game:

One of my friends had an Xbox as a kid (actually, he's the ONLY person in my age group that I know who grew up on Xbox instead of PS2/GCN) and we were hyped up on the Matrix and comic books so we though this game looked awesome. One rental later, and we quickly found one of the worst games ever made. A horrible camera, broken controls and it somehow made cel shading ugly.

The game actually faded from my memory until I started watching ProJared and rediscovered the game through an episode he did on it. Seriously, it has to be seen to be believed.

 

[Deleted member]

Not sure if this counts as obscure, exactly, but "The Letter". It contains zero gameplay or challenge and the whole time you are objects around a dark map with dead trees that come together as a poor attempt to be a scary game. To make a comparison, the gameplay is akin to Slender, but it does not have the one thing in that game that provides any kind of challenge, Slenderman. The story was virtually non-existent. Your father may have been murdered, but whatever because [SPOILERS] it was all a dream. Once you play through the game once, it takes 3 minutes to beat again as none of the objects are placed differently. This game is one of the many that somehow made it onto the eShop without achieving any form of quality whatsoever.

I saw a whole playthrough of that game; that is lost time that I will never get back. Who OK'd that "game"?

On the topic of the thread, I'm surprised that Sonic 06 gets more crap than Sonic Labyrinth. I understand that 06 was a massive disappointment to many, but at least that game had some redeeming qualities (like passable graphics and an amazing soundtrack). Labyrinth? There aren't any. The gameplay is absolutely boring, the game is a chore to go through, Sonic's purposefully slow speed makes the game a pain to go through, the levels aren't designed very well, the graphics are dull, and the music is bland. Labyrinth makes Sonic 06 look like Super Mario Galaxy; it's that bad in my opinion.

 

[solitonmedic]

Also known as Eletale Monsters in Japan, and Quest 64 in NA.

Surprised it wasn't mentioned before.
The game felt incomplete, plots was terribad, and leveling up has no effect in your performance what so ever. Upgraded spells basic have the same animation as the last. :s

 

[finalark]

I'm actually surprised that a title as Engrish as Holy Magic Century wasn't the original Japanese name.

 

[SomewhatMystia]

Also known as Eletale Monsters in Japan, and Quest 64 in NA.

Surprised it wasn't mentioned before.
The game felt incomplete, plots was terribad, and leveling up has no effect in your performance what so ever. Upgraded spells basic have the same animation as the last. :s

I think this game is the reason that random battles kind of annoy me. After beating the first boss or something, you would go to a new area, as most RPGs tend t'do.

Except most RPGs don't give you a maximum of four steps between random encounters. I believe I spent a good hour trekking through a zone that should've taken like 15 minutes.

 

[Knife Myths]

Also good to see Booster still classifying old games as terrible because they don't automatically update themselves to take advantage of current technology.

On the topic of the thread, I'm surprised that Sonic 06 gets more crap than Sonic Labyrinth. I understand that 06 was a massive disappointment to many, but at least that game had some redeeming qualities (like passable graphics and an amazing soundtrack). Labyrinth? There aren't any. The gameplay is absolutely boring, the game is a chore to go through, Sonic's purposefully slow speed makes the game a pain to go through, the levels aren't designed very well, the graphics are dull, and the music is bland. Labyrinth makes Sonic 06 look like Super Mario Galaxy; it's that bad in my opinion.

Sonic 06 was a huge release while Labyrinth was an obscure spinoff for an unpopular handheld.

 

[Booster]

I saw a whole playthrough of that game; that is lost time that I will never get back. Who OK'd that "game"?

On the topic of the thread, I'm surprised that Sonic 06 gets more crap than Sonic Labyrinth. I understand that 06 was a massive disappointment to many, but at least that game had some redeeming qualities (like passable graphics and an amazing soundtrack). Labyrinth? There aren't any. The gameplay is absolutely boring, the game is a chore to go through, Sonic's purposefully slow speed makes the game a pain to go through, the levels aren't designed very well, the graphics are dull, and the music is bland. Labyrinth makes Sonic 06 look like Super Mario Galaxy; it's that bad in my opinion.

I ****ing love you, I've never known anyone else who has played that awful GameGear game (Internet Reviewers don't count). It's easily the second worst game I've ever played, Phantasy Star 3 was much the same way except the music isn't bland but random static beeps and some describable sounds I've never heard in any other legit game.

Also Knife Myths go away <.<